August 14, 2006

Dr. James Eitel has a very insightful Letter to the Editor in the Oakland Tribune charging that there is a bias in the reporting of Israeli and Lebanese deaths.

He points out that a recent article had large print which declared, "Rocket attack kills 12 Israelis." Underneath that was smaller print that stated, "At least 16 in Lebanon die from airstrikes." Eitel goes on to argue that the difference suggests that there is "an immediate bias that Israeli lives are more valuable than Lebanese lives."

He makes an excellent point. Why are the victims on one side said to have been killed while the others simply died? This suggests that one side purposefully kills while the other accidentally does so. The difference in print size also communicates a difference in importance between the two sides.

Killing is killing is killing. It should not matter if it is "our" side or the "other" side that does it. We must be against all killing of innocent civilians!